Staley scrutinised as Barclays faces historic dilemma

At the time of Mr Jenkins' departure, Barclays shares were close to 260p. Since then, hit by the Brexit vote, an investigation into its new chief executive, sluggish investment banking markets and the threat of a big fine by US regulators, the shares have dropped to 190p. Since the start of this year, the British bank's share price is down 15 per cent, missing out on a rally across the global banking sector and underperforming its leading rivals. Their biggest source of angst is a question that has tormented Barclays for decades: what to do with its investment bank. To counter the sceptics, Mr Staley has promised to boost the bank's overall return on tangible equity above 10 per cent for the first time in almost a decade. Setting out his bullish vision for the first time at a Bank of America conference last month in London, Mr Throsby talked about the need to "Re-establish the excellence of years past" at Barclays. Mr Staley is betting that the investment banking market will grow in the longer term as companies fund themselves less from bank balance sheets and more from capital markets.